If you think about this from a system or landlord's perspective, it's much easier. You don't need to do lots of accounting, just consider the system: Your cos

If you think about this from a system or landlord's perspective, it's much easier. You don't need to do lots of accounting, just consider the system: Your cost to live there is the same as as the landlord's, except for 1. Landlord's profit 2. Mortgage transaction costs and 3. Efficiencies through shared expenses. For #1, You have the power to shop around. For #2, You want to find a place where the landlord has owned or plans to own for a long-time, so e.g. the realtor's fee has long since been amortized. For #3, One larger, more efficient heater is better than a bunch of smaller ones. Same goes for insulation. Industrial appliances like washers and driers mean cheaper cost per use. Optimizing the system is about balancing your landlord's fees for running the house against your own opportunity cost to run your house as a hobby, with two credits in your favor for shared resources and buried expenses like realtor's fees. If you're handy, or have a partner who can work from home, running the house as a hobby is easier. If you or all partners work out of the home, your non-work time is much more valuable and running the house as a hobby is much more difficult.